Food banks will soon be stretching themselves thin as the aftermath of the Friday's food stamp cuts.
According to USA Today, food banks across the country are bracing for more people coming through their doors in the wake of the program cuts. The banks served 37 million Americans in 2010, up from 25 million in 2006, according to the most recent numbers from Feeding America, an umbrella organization for 200 food banks nationwide.
"Our network is already overburdened with a tremendous increase in need," said Maura Daly, a Feeding America spokeswoman.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are set to decrease for more than 47 million lower-income people, 1 in 7 Americans, most of who live in households with children, seniors or people with disabilities. The cuts are expected to reduce the almost $80 billion program by almost $4 billion next year.
According to the Agriculture Department, that means a family of four receiving food stamps will receive $36 less a month. The maximum payment for a family of four will shrink from $668 a month to $632, or $432 over the course of a year.
Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, said the cuts will hurt more than 1.8 million Ohio residents. Hamler-Fugitt said seniors, children, people with disabilities and veterans will be among the groups hardest hit by the cuts because they are the groups most reliant on food stamps.
"This is taking food off the plate and out of the mouths of our most vulnerable friends and neighbors," she said.
USA Today reported that the during the holiday season, the banks receive more than half of their donations during the year, but more people turn to food banks for help during that time as well.
Diana Stanley, CEO of the Lord's Place, which runs job and housing programs for the homeless in West Palm Beach, Fl., said the clients her agency work with do not have any relatable income. Stanley said more than 80 percent of the 250 people a day the agency works with receive food stamps
"The food stamps help as our families move into independence," she said. "So these cuts are scary for us."
Congress is currently debating the bill, which has additional cuts to the program totaling up to $40 billion. A cut that size, say advocates, such as Hamler-Fugitt and Flood, would be devastating.
